Stuart Yin

Wavelength multiplexed holographic storage in a sensitive photorefractive crystal using a visible-light tunable diode laser

Abstract Wavelength multiplexed holograms using a Ce:Fe: doped LiNbO 3 crystal with a visible-light tunable diode laser are reported. The advantages of wavelength multiplexed reflection type holograms are discussed. It is shown that the wavelength multiplexed holograms offer a more uniform selectivity over all the construction angles, as compared with the angularly multiplexed crystal holograms.

Nanocomposites with very large electro-optic effect and widely tunable refractive index

A very large electro-optic effect has been observed in relaxor ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer. By adding a small amount of zinc sulfide nanoparticles, the refractive index of the nanocomposite can be tuned between 1.4 and 1.5 while retaining a large electro-optic effect and high transparency. Tunable long-period fiber gratings have been fabricated with the polymer nanocomposite as the second cladding, and a resonance wavelength shift of over 50nm has been achieved when electric field changed by 30V∕μm. This magnitude of shift corresponds to pure refractive index change of Δn∕n≈0.4% in the nanocomposite.

Broadband IR supercontinuum generation using single crystal sapphire fibers.

In this paper, an investigation on broadband IR supercontinuum generation in single crystal sapphire fibers is presented. It is experimentally demonstrated that broadband IR supercontinuum spectrum (up to 3.2microm) can be achieved by launching ultra-short femtosecond laser pulses into single crystal sapphire fiber with a dimension 115microm in diameter and 5cm in length, which covers both the near IR spectral region and the lower end of the mid-IR spectral range. Furthermore, the mechanism of supercontinuum generation in single crystal sapphire fibers is briefly addressed. When the fiber length is shorter than the dispersion length, the self-phase modulation dominates the broadening effect. In this case, the broad supercontinuum spectrum with a smooth profile can be obtained. However, when the fiber length is longer than the dispersion length, the soliton-related dynamics accompanied by the self-phase modulation dominates the broadening effect. There are discrete spikes in the spectrum (corresponding to different order solitons). The above assumption of supercontinuum generation mechanism is quantitatively modeled by the computer simulation program and verified by the experimental results. Thus, one can adjust the spectral profile by properly choosing the length of the sapphire fibers. The broad IR spectral nature of this supercontinuum source can be very useful in a variety of applications such as broadband LADAR, remote sensing, and multi-spectrum free space communications.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy by interfered femtosecond laser created nanostructures

A type of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) by interfered femtosecond laser created nanostructures on Cu metal is presented. It is found out that finer and more uniform nanostructures (with an average feature size 100 nm or smaller) can be created on Cu metal by interfered femtosecond illumination with a phase mask. Significantly enhanced Raman signal (with an enhancement factor around 863) can be realized by using the nanostructured Cu substrate created by the interfered femtosecond laser illumination. The experimentally measured enhancement factor agrees relatively well with the theoretical analyses. Since the nanostructures can be inscribed in real time and at remote locations by the femtosecond laser inscription, the proposed SERS can be particularly useful for the standoff detection of chemicals.

Analysis of terahertz generation via nanostructure enhanced plasmonic excitations

In this paper, we conduct a quantitative study on the physical mechanism of electrons dynamics near the nanostructured metal film surfaces, as well as the efficiency of generated terahertz radiation associated with different types of nanostructures. The simulation results show that although the oscillating motion of emitted electrons outside the metal surface may affect the terahertz generation efficiency to some extent, this efficiency is predominantly determined by the electric field magnitude inside the metal film associated with nanostructure enhanced plasmonic excitations. Due to the field enhancement effect of the nanostructure, an appropriately designed nanostructured surface could greatly enhance the strength of generated terahertz signal via the increased nonlinear interactions between the light and the nanostructures.

Terahertz generation in multiple laser-induced air plasmas

An investigation of the terahertz wave generation in multiple laser-induced air plasmas is presented. First, it is demonstrated that the intensity of the terahertz wave increases as the number of air plasmas increases. Second, the physical mechanism of this enhancement effect of the terahertz generation is studied by quantitatively measuring the intensity of the generated terahertz wave as a function of phase difference between adjacent air plasmas. It is found out that the superposition is the main mechanism to cause this enhancement. Thus, the results obtained in this paper not only provide a technique to generate stronger terahertz wave but also enable a better understanding of the mechanism of the terahertz generation in air plasma.

Investigation of tuning characteristics of electrically tunable long-period gratings with a precise four-Layer model

In this paper, an investigation of the tuning characteristics of electrically tunable long-period gratings (LPGs) is presented. A precise four-layer model is used to quantitatively analyze the tuning potential of the gratings, and experimental data are provided to support the analysis. The four-layer model includes a silica core layer with an inscribed LPG, a thin silica cladding layer (/spl sim/40 /spl mu/m), an ultrathin (/spl sim/ 50 nm) high refractive index indium-tin dioxide (ITO) inner electrode layer, and a tunable electrooptic (E-O) polymer layer. It has been found that the inner electrode layer, made of high refractive index ITO, can be modeled as a high refractive index overlay and causes the forward-propagating modes in the thin silica cladding to reorganize as the ambient refractive index changes. This reorganization effect can lead to a significant increase (ten plus fold) in the tuning range of LPG tunable filters. Moreover, the required specifications of the tunable polymer layer are quantitatively analyzed. Finally, the required characteristics of the E-O polymer is realized by using a nanocomposite ferroelectric relaxor poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer.

Broadband supercontinuum generation covering UV to mid-IR region by using three pumping sources in single crystal sapphire fiber.

In this paper, we demonstrate that the the bandwidth of the supercontinuum spectrum generated in a large mode area sapphire fiber can be enhanced by employing triple pumping sources. Three pumping sources with wavelengths of 784 nm, 1290 nm, and 2000 nm are launched into a single crystal sapphire fiber that is 5 cm in length and has a core diameter of 115 microm. The nonlinear interactions due to self-phase modulation and four-wave mixing form a broadband supercontinuum that covers the UV, visible, near-IR and lower mid-IR regions. Furthermore, we explore the possibility of generating a broadband supercontinuum expanding from the UV to far-IR region by increasing the number of pumping sources with wavelengths in the mid- and far-IR.

Tri-color composite volume H-PDLC grating and its application to 3D color autostereoscopic display.

A tri-color composite volume holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) grating and its application to 3-dimensional (3D) color autostereoscopic display are reported in this paper. The composite volume H-PDLC grating consists of three different period volume H-PDLC sub-gratings. The longer period diffracts red light, the medium period diffracts the green light, and the shorter period diffracts the blue light. To record three different period gratings simultaneously, two photoinitiators are employed. The first initiator consists of methylene blue and p-toluenesulfonic acid and the second initiator is composed of Rose Bengal and N-phenyglycine. In this case, the holographic recording medium is sensitive to entire visible wavelengths, including red, green, and blue so that the tri-color composite grating can be written simultaneously by harnessing three different color laser beams. In the experiment, the red beam comes from a He-Ne laser with an output wavelength of 632.8 nm, the green beam comes from a Verdi solid state laser with an output wavelength of 532 nm, and the blue beam comes from a He-Cd laser with an output wavelength of 441.6 nm. The experimental results show that diffraction efficiencies corresponding to red, green, and blue colors are 57%, 75% and 33%, respectively. Although this diffraction efficiency is not perfect, it is high enough to demonstrate the effect of 3D color autostereoscopic display.

H-PDLC based waveform controllable optical choppers for FDMF microscopy

An electrically waveform controllable optical chopper based on holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal grating (H-PDLC) is presented in this paper. The theoretical analyses and experimental results show that the proposed optical chopper has following merits: (1) controllable waveform, (2) no mechanical motion induced vibrational noise, and 
(3) multiple-channel integration capability. The application of this unique electrically controllable optical chopper to frequency division multiplexed fluorescent microscopy is also addressed in this paper, which has the potential to increase the channel capacity, the stability and the reliability. This will be beneficial to the parallel detection, especially for dynamic studies of living biological samples.